As part of the local council's effort to make Petaling Jaya a 'smart city', MBPJ is utilising technology such as real-time cameras equipped with speakers to monitor and manage traffic flow by reprimanding errant motorists over loudspeakers.

It was learned that MBPJ has been using this system since the beginning of this year, in February.

This system has been adopted by other cities in the world such as Jakarta and Bandung in Indonesia and Melbourne in Australia for the purpose of controlling the traffic and enforcement, as well as enhancing safety and reducing crime.

Here's how it works:

Council officers on duty will be tasked with monitoring and observing in real-time any activity that is happening in the vicinity from the command centre at Menara MBPJ, using the CCTVs that have been installed around Petaling Jaya.

The officer(s) will make announcements using the loudspeaker system to warn offending drivers who were caught on camera for parking their vehicle illegally or obstructing traffic flow. The driver will then be directed to move his or her vehicle accordingly.

If the offender refuses, the driver could risk receiving summons, or have his or her vehicle clamped or towed without prior warning.

Harian Metro reported Petaling Jaya Mayor Datuk Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain as saying that a total of 1,295 vehicles that were obstructing traffic were immediately moved by the drivers after hearing the instructions issued by the MBPJ enforcement officers through the loudspeakers.

"Our statistics show that 85% of the drivers will immediately remove their vehicles once they hear their vehicle number plates announced through the loudspeaker. If we can't see the number plate from our control centre due to obstruction, we will then describe the colour of the vehicle, model and where it is parked," Mohd Azizi was quoted as saying by The Star Online.

He also revealed that there are currently 120 cameras linked with the police to monitor incidents of crime and accidents.